Julia's weekly blog

After one of the driest springs I can remember, the weather finally broke this week and we got a good old drenching. Usually getting wet at work isn't much fun but when it is as much needed as it was this week, you don't mind...at least it was warm rain!The heavens opened just in time too as we had anticipated the showers and entered a load of our soft ground types last week.Things got off to a great start on Monday with Secret Strategy losing his maiden tag at the fourth time of asking down in Brighton. He had been placed on all three of his previous starts so a win was much deserved and I was delighted that he could do it for his syndicate of owners who have had to be patient with him due to an injury incurred last autumn. He is on the right track now though and can hopefully make his mark in handicap races this summer.

Secret Strategy (Adam Beschizza) wins at Brighton

Things didn't go quite as well as we hoped after that but there were some encouraging displays from Pitch High at Yarmouth and two-year old Terri Rules at Newmarket.

Moving on to this week, we won't have as many runners but we'll certainly be clocking up plenty of miles as Oceanus makes the trip up to Redcar on Monday.​The course must be the only one in the country which has missed the rain as the going is still good to firm but that shouldn't worry Oceanus as he ran a blinder on quick ground at Yarmouth last time. That was his first run for us and, under similar conditions this time, hopefully he can go a couple of places better.

Oceanus (Adam)

We always love a trip to Yarmouth and we might have a trio of runners there on Wednesday, depending on the ground.Best Example has slowly been coming to a level where he can be competitive and his run at Windsor last time showed us that he has still got the ability and enthusiasm to win races. He is stepping up to 1m4f but I think he will stay that far as he relaxes well during his races.Also there will be Little Orchid. She is no world-beater but has enough ability to win a race and her time will come sooner or later.Completing the threesome maybe Gatillo. He was disappointing last week on his favoured soft ground but he had a rough trip through the race and is better than that performance.

Best Example (Tess), Go On Gal (Sarah) & Little Orchid (Sam, hidden)

Also on Wednesday, we have Go On Gal entered at Lingfield on the turf. She is incredibly consistent and very versatile with regards to the ground and track so hopefully another good show is in order.

The N.E.T. Racing Club has had a changing of the guard in recent months after the retirements of Handheld and The Ducking Stool, along with the sale of Attain and Critical Thinking.Julia was keen to find some fresh blood to give Club members plenty of fun days out and she has sourced a pair of exciting two-year olds who should give members plenty of action for a good while.Along with Gas Monkey, Julia has also added a recent breeze-up purchase to the line-up. By Classic sire Holy Roman Emperor, this two-year old filly is related to two other winners from the mother's only two runners to date. In honour of Kevin Case who was one of the Club's biggest supporters and passed away recently, the filly will be named Casey Banter. It is a great, fun name that is very appropriate to the memory of Kevin and hopefully she can provide us with more good times.